It is very apparent that the bears and cubs in the wild are struggling to survive in this year of poor hard mast (acorns) availability.  We continue to receive needy and malnourished cubs, like the most recent arrival – #224 nicknamed Rufus Bear.  Like all the cubs in residence, he is 9 months old, but unlike those cubs who have been with us the longest, he weighs only 9 pounds – not much more than #222 (Shelby) and #223 (Tucker) who were admitted about ten days ago.  Curator Coy took Rufus to the UT vet school for an exam, and worm medicine was prescribed but the vets felt that antibiotics were not needed (good news).

Rufus was placed in the Cub Nursery so he can be carefully and remotely monitored, and can start to receive the soft diet of yogurt and fruit that he needs to get him started on the road to recovery.  We have just one photo of Rufus in the Cub Nursery with  “Chubby Cubby,” the stuffed bear companion.  We hope that soon Rufus will become a real chubby cubby, himself.

Rufus Bear sits on Chubby Cubby, the stuffed bear.

As happened with both Shelby and Tucker Bear, Rufus will probably show the stress of captivity in such a small space and will need to be transferred to The Cub House.  Hopefully, by that time the other two little cubs will have finished their meds and will be out in the Wild Enclosure.  It is certainly a good thing that ABR doubled its Wild Enclosure space in 2014 so we are prepared for this influx of needy cubs!  We are grateful to all of our supporters whose contributions helped us with our expansion project!